Interpreting Pre-Consumer Recycled Content Claims

Which materials can be claimed as pre-consumer recycled content — and which definitely can’t?

Debate on the topic is rife within environmental and manufacturing communities.

UL Environment has developed this white paper to provide clarity about guidelines to validate claims of pre-consumer recycled content and to serve as a reference for manufacturers.

The 10-page paper, “Interpreting Pre-Consumer Recycled Content Claims: Philosophy and Guidance for Pre-Consumer Recycled Materials” (pdf), includes:

• Definitions of key recycled content terms.
• The guiding principles for validating pre-consumer recycled content claims.
• Industry-specific examples of pre-consumer recycled content to illustrate application of the principles. The examples cover plastics; minerals, concrete and asphalt; metals; assembled products; and chemicals, paints and glass.

The report is available from the UL University and can be downloaded free (pdf).